Alien: Isolation

We Meet Up With Alien: Isolation's Creepy Androids

The xenomorph is one of the big draws of Alien: Isolation, but the sleek alien isn't the only threat that Amanda Ripley faces. As we saw in a new E3 demo, she'll have to avoid the deadly creature while also fending off attacks from humans and androids.

We saw a human survivor in the demo, and gave him wide berth. He wandered back and forth the station, clearly rattled. It could be a dangerous encounter on its own, but as we hid underneath a desk and watched him walk away, we noticed that he was carrying a pistol. Al Hope, the game's creative lead, says that while some of the survivors might not mean players any harm, it's safest to avoid detection if at all possible. Skipping ahead, we saw how leaving him alone could pay off; while we hid from the xenomorph in a locker, the creature and the man engaged in a quick battle. If you've seen Aliens, you know that even a heavily armed squad can easily get taken down by the creatures. Our lone survivor barely stood a chance.

The other big thing Sega and Creative Assembly showed in the demo was a look at the androids. They're not the sophisticated Weyland-Yutani models that we've seen in the Alien movies. These guys look roughly human, but they're cheap models built by a competitor. As Amanda powers up several generators to begin an evacuation procedure, she inadvertently turns one of these machines on. Lowe says that, like the humans, not all of the androids are antagonistic. They are an unknown quantity, though, and the fewer of those you have in play at any time, the better.

In spite of our best efforts to remain undetected, the android sees us, and begins following us around. A melee attack does nothing but anger it, though its face (and creepy white-ringed irises) remains impassive. It grabs Amanda by the throat, and the screen blurs out as she gets knocked around by his powerful arms. A blast from a flamethrower angers it further, though his uniform catches fire. Finally, Amanda pulls out an EMP grenade (one of several items that can be found, or crafted with found components) and uses it to temporarily stun the machine. From there, she's able to bash its metal head in. It collapses in a pool of milky blood, and we're temporarily safe.

As we've learned, safety is one thing we shouldn't take for granted in Alien: Isolation. It's time to get moving.